RhA wrote:PrymeStriker wrote:I'm not sure how I could go a full decade with Gary Chalk doing almost every Optimus in the fiction and only go 6 years with Peter after a 20-year-long break and be tired of the latter.
Well, Gary just did what he did, just like Peter in the 80's. After that, fandom hailed Peter back as the savior and now he has his own nostalgia-ridden shoes to fill... Maybe?
Yep, that's an apt description of it.
We have to remember that the whole thing was kicked off again due to Bay so heavily overhauling the franchise that EVERYONE was in an uproar and screaming for some tangible connection to their beloved "originals". When it looked like Bay wasn't going to give on any points, we fans finally found the one thing we could push hardest on and have him give in and that was Peter Cullen coming back. So it's the fandom that's responsible if anyone is tired of his performances. We did this, maybe not each and every one of us but as a majority so as fans we all get the finger pointed at us whether we want it or not.
I have to agree that Peter and all the other VA's who have voiced Prime over the years have not had the chance to really shine the way they should. They and every other VA suffers the curse of being over-directed and not having their talent put to the best use. This leads to either sub-par performances or drastic character over-use. Saturation will kill a character as quick as a crappy performance as was mentioned with Unicron in the A/E/C lines. (I'm a die-hard "Leave Unicron in the 1986 Movie" person so I absolutely DESPISE him even being brought up in any other context to begin with)
Now, I'm not sick of Peter playing the part by any stretch. I'm a creature of habit, I embrace tightly those things which are most familiar and for me he always will be Optimus Prime. I will never grow weary of hearing him in the role but I also will not demonize the next person to fill his boots. I know that all good things must end sometime and when he does step down from the part I'll be supportive of the next person to pick up the Matrix and carry the mantle of "Prime".